Woman of the Hour: Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut about Dating Game serial killer bought by Netflix

Last Updated on October 4, 2023

The Toronto International Film Festival is off and running. Netflix has just made its first major purchase of a feature film at the film event. The streaming giant has chosen its contestant with a new thriller starring Anna Kendrick called Woman of the Hour. Not only does the film star Kendrick, but the movie is also the Pitch Perfect star’s directorial debut. Deadline is reporting that Netflix has initiated the film festival acquisitions with this title at an estimated $11 million.

According to Deadline, the plot of Woman of the Hour “tells the stranger-than-fiction story of a young woman who actually won a date on The Dating Game with a man who turned out to be a notorious serial killer. Rodney Alcala was convicted or murdering at least eight women, but investigators believe the number could be as high as 130. The handsome and charming Alcala lured women by posing as a photographer looking for models. He had already been a registered sex offender, and was recently released from prison. Somehow he was accepted on the popular daytime Dating Game, where a woman asked questions of three bachelors that were concealed by a wall.

The contestant, Cheryl Bradshaw (played by Kendrick), chose the killer, but he turned out to be such a creepy stalker that she never went on the date. Daniel Zovatto plays the date from hell.”

As the strikes march on with the film festival circuits commencing regardless, there are only a few stars of films showcased that have been able to attend the events for the promotion of their world premieres. These actors have been given the OK by SAG-AFTRA as interim agreements have granted permission for them to make their personal appearances at the festivals. This is even as the conflicts between the unions and the studios continue. Woman of the Hour was not a film that had been given an interim agreement, and Netflix was able to make this purchase on the first weekend of the festival.

Kendrick’s first directing effort comes from a script that was written by Ian McDonald. In addition to starring and directing, Kendrick produces the film alongside Roy Lee and BoulderLight Pictures’ J.D. Lifshitz, as well as Raphael Margules. Stephen Crawford and Andrew Deane are on board as executive producers/ Tracy Rosenblum is on board as co-producer. And Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios had financed the film.